BHUBANESWAR: The dinosaurs of Steven Speilberg flick ‘Jurassic Park’ are etched well in everyone’s memory but many of us missed the plant species in the film. If you still do not want to miss out then pack your bags to one of these districts - Ganjam, Gajapati, Nayagarh or parts of southern and western Orissa - to view some similar species that have been weathering the vagaries of nature for 150 million years.
May sound strange, but Orissa is home to the ‘oldest plant species of the country’ Cycas circinalis orissiensis, a non-flowering Gymnosperm variety of the Jurassic age. The species is typical to its local habitat - out of seven others - seen in North East, Western Ghats, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
According to geological data, the Gondwana landmass collided with the Urasian plate to form the Indian sub-continent. During the collision, the Himalayan range was formed and below that all the plant species got sedimented in the line where the ‘coal belt of India’ is presently located. As the process started some 50 million years ago in Eocene era, there was every possibility that the plant species were there in plenty.
Cycad fossils recovered from Athamallik and Rairakhol area speak volumes about the links of the Orissan geology with the ancient times. The PG department of Botany, Utkal University, has collected some samples from the area for its study.
‘‘Seen in abundance in several parts of the State, this ‘rare and unique species of cycas’ needs conservation as it is a living fossil and linked with the Jurassic era. Moreover, as the plants have a high degree of thermo and environmental resistance, more research could also lead to some interesting facts on their survival strategies,’’ says Prof. Siba Prasad Adhikary.
‘‘Extensive searches for more such plant species can also provide us different aspects of plant evolution,’’ he said adding even the use of the cycad plant products by local villagers of Sorada block of Ganjam district can be a link to more ethno-botanical research.
